Utah Valley Marathon....

Steve has been training the past few months to run another marathon. He chose to run the Utah Valley Marathon this year. It was held in Provo Canyon and ended at Provo Town Center.

This race began CRAZY EARLY in the morning. He was suppose to meet the bus at 3:30 to 4:30 AM. That meant that we had to leave our home by around 3:00. TALK ABOUT an EARLY MORNING RUN!!!! Who in their right mind does that anyway??? Well I don't know a single marathon runner that is in their "RIGHT MIND!" LOL If you ask me, they have to be a little NUTS to do that to themselves all in the name of FUN!!!!

Once we got to Provo Steve was wide awake. I think he was a bit concerned because he had just recently hurt his ankle, his leg, and had a groin pull from playing softball. When he got out of the car I watched him as he HOBBLED to the bus. I was really worried for him!

The race began at 5:30 AM and besides it being so dog-gone early it was also RAINING!!! Steve had done a practice run in the canyon a few weeks back so luckily he was aware of the MANY hills in this race. Seriously....I thought he would be running DOWN the mountain BUT at times I bet the runners were wondering when the "DOWN" portion of the race would begin.

Along with the rain came the cool clouds that wrapped themselves around the mountain tops. At one point while I was waiting along the road side, I was actually standing inside a huge cloud. It felt really awesome!

The mountain did supply a beautiful backdrop for the runners. The Provo River runs along side the road. I should have brought my fishing pole to cast out a few times as I waited.

Another shot of the pretty mountains and the CRAZY DRENCHED runners.

Bridal Veil Falls off to your left. I wish I would have got a better shot of it. It was actually a very pretty day if the wind and rain would only stop!

My SOGGY man is approaching me at about mile 14.

He was drenched to the BONE. He took a break long enough to give me some of his gear so that he didn't have to lug it around anymore. Well....he still has a smile on his face and his leg and ankle seem to be holding up! YEAH!!!


Once out of the mountain Steve was still running strong. It was nice to drive along the route in my WARM, DRY car and cheer him on along the way. I love this man!

Another shot of the cool clouds and our beautiful mountains.

Mile 23 was really tough for Howie on his first Marathon in Logan. He cramped all up and could barely even walk. He HIT THE WALL! On this race, once he hit mile 20 he just seemed to kick it up a notch and was really focussed on finishing strong. I think he actually was stronger and faster the last half of this marathon, than he was the first part. I know he mentioned to me that he started off MUCH SLOWER than normal because he was pretty concerned about how his injured body would survive it all. I remember him saying at mile 20...."now the race will begin!"

Just another 2 miles to go!!!

I can't believe the hills they had in this race. Not sure who charts out the race course but whoever does is BRUTAL! The end of the race when the runners are practically "TOAST" there were some pretty good sized hills. Most runners that I saw just walked up them. NOT HOWIE. He just dug in deep and trudged along. I wish I took a picture of one of the hills at the end. I couldn't believe it as I drove in my car I just thought, "this will do him in for sure!" Later when I asked him what he thought about the hill he said it actually wasn't that bad. From the car it sure looked hard! But remember, I am a HUGE WIMP when it comes to running!

The race ended at the Provo Town Center parking lot. I hurried to get a good spot so that I could see Howie cross the finish line.

It is really something to stand at the finish line and watch the many people cross after just running 26.2 miles. What an accomplishment! Many were crying as they crossed the line. Not sure if the tears are tears of joy or tears of PAIN! Most would raise their arms in the air...TRIUMPHANT! It is a very emotional moment for many. I got choked up watching the runners come around the corner. Especially when I saw my sweet husband heading down the home stretch.

Howie had told me earlier that he planned on finishing off strong on this race. He wanted to have enough energy to sprint to the finish line. Well as I was waiting for him to arrive I glanced across the parking lot and caught a glimpse of Steve running through the cheering crowd. His head was held high and he was running faster than I have ever seen him run before. I instantly became a WRECK!!! I got so emotional!!! I was so proud of him for his hard work and diligence in completing this race. I decided to try to capture his finish on video. Tears were streaming down my face so I am surprised that I even held the camera still long enough to capture the moment. I know the pain he had been going through the past few weeks so to see him dig in and run that hard to the finish was really something to me!

He finished in 5 hours and 3 minutes.

I am so proud of my marathon man.

Great Job Howie.

He is already talking about the marathon he is going to run in September. ARE YOU NUTS??? I think he needs to let his body heal but there is no stopping him. He loves to run and he loves the feeling of satisfaction he gets when he finishes something as challenging as 26.2 miles. Not many people have the will power and stamina to complete a marathon and he loves that feeling of accomplishment. I am so happy that his body held out for this one! GREAT JOB my man!! Love YA!!!